UMass Dartmouth Corsair Hall of Fame Class of 2008

The Class of 2008Inductees:

A freshman would have a difficult time making a bigger
impression than Steve Camara (Southeastern Massachusetts
University '77) did to the Corsair baseball team in
1973. A year out of pitching at Fall River's Durfee High,
Camara walked into Coach Bruce Wheeler's baseball program and
posted a 6-0 mark in his first season. Camara continued to
carry the load for the Corsairs throughout his four-year career,
setting several pitching records, including one that stands out
more than 32 years after his final game. Camara holds the UMass
Dartmouth career record for shutouts with nine, while also holding
second in both career strikeouts (220) and complete games (22) and
is third in career starts (37). What isn't apparent in the
record books was Camara's competitiveness. During an era when
then SMU traveled throughout the region and beyond playing Division
I and II schools, Camara's performance against the University of
Maryland in 1976 stands out. After the Corsairs took an early 1-0
lead, only to go on to lose 18-1 in the first game of a
doubleheader, it was left to Camara to salvage the day. He
responded with a one-hit shutout (the hit deflected off his glove)
to lift his team to a doubleheader split. In his nomination letter,
teammate Steve Taber wrote, "Steve was a true competitor in every
sense of the word. When Steve took the mound, we always knew we had
a very good chance to win and most of the time we did."

As part of Bob Dowd's track and field program which produced a
handful of national champion, countless All-America selections and
several candidates for the Corsair Hall of Fame, Dale
Whiting (SoutheasternMassachusettsUniversity'85) accomplished a rare feat during his
collegiate track and field career. Whiting was the first
Division III student-athlete from New England to ever win the
All-New England Outdoor Decathlon Championship. Competing
against the best track athletes from all divisions in the region,
Whiting won the New England championship and advanced to the NCAA
Division III Championships. He also won a second New England
Division title during his career. Twenty-four years after
establishing the UMass Dartmouth decathlon record of 6,452 points,
Whiting's mark still stands among the record-setting performances
by UMass Dartmouth track and field athletes. Since the Olympic
decathlon champion is often considered the "best all-around athlete
in the world," the argument could be made that Dale Whiting is the
best all-around athlete to ever represent this institution.
According to his long-time track and field coach Bob Dowd, "Dale
Whiting's athletic performance in ten events, ranging from running
to throwing to jumping to vaulting, over a two-day period is one of
the best overall athletic efforts I ever witnessed in my coaching
experience."

Bill Casey (UMass Dartmouth '96) is the first
Corsair football player to be inducted into the Corsair Hall of
Fame in the 20-year history of the sport at UMass Dartmouth.
In his first season Casey did everything asked of him, playing wide
receiver, defensive back and special teams. Casey took his first
snaps at quarterback late in his freshman year and was the starter
as a sophomore. By the end of his career he had led the Corsairs to
their first championship season and post-season experience. As a
sophomore, Casey was the Corsairs' second-leading scorer with nine
touchdowns, rushing for 560 yards as UMass Dartmouth posted a 5-3
mark in 1993. Casey's junior year was the breakout campaign
for Corsair football as Casey led them to a then-school record of
8-3, a share of the New England Football Conference title, and an
invitation to the ECAC North-West Bowl game. Casey was the NEFC
First Team All-Star quarterback and first player in school history
to rush for 1,000 yards in season when he picked up 1,123
yards. Casey led the NEFC in total offense with 164.3 yards
per game, and threw for nine touchdowns and another 611 yards. In
his senior season, Casey rushed for 493 yards, threw for another
561 yards, scored three touchdowns and threw for five more.
For his career, Casey finished with 2,202 yards rushing, an average
of 4.3 yards per carry, 22 touchdowns, 18 TD passes, 10 pass
receptions, and two interceptions. For his career, he accounted for
4, 299 yards of total offense. Casey's accomplishments are
many but one of his records will live forever in NCAA football
history. Casey tied an NCAA record with a 99-yard run from
scrimmage in a 13-0 win over Norwich in 1995.

Maura McDonald (UMass Dartmouth '99) finished
her four-year collegiate career by competing in the 1999 NCAA
Division III National Track and Field Championships. A
national championship qualification was a fitting end to a career
which spanned five years with competition in both cross country and
track and field. McDonald's accomplishments are numerous and
distinguished, having achieved regional and national success in
both events. McDonald was the 1996 Little East Conference cross
country champion, while helping her team to the LEC title. She was
LEC runner up in 1998, also earning All-New England Regional Team
honors that same year. During the outdoor track season of
1998, McDonald posted the LEC record in the 3000 meters, a mark
that still stands at 10:57.09. Her best year in track was 1999 when
she set the LEC outdoor record in the 5000, took second indoors,
earning Div III All-New England Honors and was the ECAC Indoor
champion at 5000 meters, posting a personal best 17:30. She
qualified for the 1999 NCAA Div. III Indoor nationals, placed
seventh nationally, and earned New England Alliance championships
at both 1500 and 1000 meters. In total, she earned four LEC
conference championships indoors and two more outdoors. In
the UMass Dartmouth track and field record book, McDonald has seven
top-six records, her best is second all-time in the 1500 meters and
a pair of thirds in the indoor 1000 and outdoor 5000 meters.

Mike Lane's (UMass Dartmouth '02) name is
prominent in UMass Dartmouth's record books, holding four
individual records more than 10 years after his last collegiate
competition. A four-time NCAA Division III All-America,
Lane's best finish was a second place in the 200-yard Breast at the
1997 NCAA Division III championships along with three other
top-eight national championship race finishes. During the 1997
season, Lane rewrote the Corsair record book in the breast stroke,
establishing school records in the 50 (26.58), 100 (56.89) and 200
(2:03.35), while also setting the record for the 100 IM (54.63).
Lane was a three-time New England Intercollegiate champion and
record holder while going undefeated in dual meet competition in
eight individual events. Lane's collegiate swimming career is
only part of a body of competitive work that has spanned almost his
entire life. He has over twenty years of competitive swimming
experience. During that time, Lane was a 16-time All-American and a
5-time national individual and relay champion in collegiate and
masters' swimming. At the age of 35, Lane was a finalist at the
2006 Speedo Sectional Championships in both breaststroke events. In
the summer of 2006 at the Final Masters World Championships he took
three individual top-five places and three relay top-three finishes
including a World and American record-breaking finish in the
200-medley relay.

In 34 ice hockey seasons at UMass Dartmouth, the record for most
victories in a four-year span belongs to the senior class of
1998. Their overall record of 92-14-2 (.861 winning
percentage) produced three ECAC championships in four years with
only an overtime loss in 1996 preventing a four-year sweep.
The 1997-98 Corsair Ice Hockey Team capped that
great run with a 22-5 overall record and a third league
championship. Coach John Rolli's team finished the season with a
4-2 ECAC North/Central/South championship game victory at St.
Michael's College, their third straight road victory in the
tournament. Defenseman Kayne Beaudry selected as the game's Most
Outstanding Player, scored the game-winner late in the first
period. Goalie Ryan Sloper completed a solid playoff run with 23
saves for the victory, his third in as many games. Captain Steve
Bartkus and Beaudry were ECAC Central All-League selections as well
as New England Hockey Writers Division III All-Stars.
Bartkus was the team's leading scorer (28-30-58), with Jim Egan
second (21-21-42), followed by Jamie DiBona (20-17-37) and Pat
Shultz (17-19-36). Sloper and Louis Weimann shared the Corsairs'
goaltending duties as Sloper posted an 11-3 record with one
shutout, a 3.80 GAA and a .892 saves percentage, while Weimann was
10-2 with a 3.87 GAA and a .880 saves percentage. Bartkus and
Schultz placed their names in the Corsair record books.
Bartkus set power play records for both a season (13) and career
(29). Schultz set shorthanded goal records for a single-season
(seven) and career (8).